Overweight Teens Eat Less

For the past two decades, the number of obese children and teens has continued to rise to such proportions that even First Lady Michelle Obama has made the issue one of her personal pet projects. However, new insight from a study conducted by the University of North Carolina validates a feeling teens have suspected all along: an overweight teen eats fewer calories, than does his healthy weight counterpart.

The study, published in the September 10th’s Pediatrics journal, explored a comparison of boys and girls who were obese to those who were overweight and healthy sized. In the 12-14-year old portion of the study, the very obese girls ate approximately 300 less calories on average than obese girls. This continued in that obese girls ate about 110 fewer calories than healthy-weight girls. The results were the same with boys, finding that, among obese boys, 15-17-years olds, about 220 less calories were consumed than their overweight counterparts and overweight boys ate about 375 fewer calories than the healthy-weight teen boys.

It’s easy for society and smaller sized teens to assume that overweight teens in their school are eating a lot of junk foods, blaming them for their large sizes. That may not be the case. Learning healthy nutritional habits is certainly part of any weight loss plan, but incorporating exercise is especially important for teens who struggle with their weight.

When cutting calories to help a teen lose weight, make sure that the plan you select is nutritionally adequate to support a growing teen’s needs. Medifast has all of the essential vitamins and nutrients that your teen will need to lose weight and is simple to prepare, even when your busy teenager doesn’t have time to think about dieting. Learn more about Medifast.

Stacey Toran is a mother of two and became an advocate for the obese after losing her mother to health complications of being severely overweight. She understands food addiction, and went through one herself following her pregnancies. “I got caught up in the ‘eating for two’ excuse, but the reality was, it was just an excuse. The ‘other one’ was a mere seven pounds. How can that be counted as another person?” Stacey cares deeply about keeping families healthy.. for themselves and for each other. "My goal is to give people the latest information on living a healthy life and passing those traditions on to their families." Toran currently resides in West Palm Beach, Florida with her husband and two children.